Katif (Taz) — Sayed Ali [* name changed], 28, and his friends are getting ready for their weekly weekend ritual. He's clothed himself in black. "At night they can't see that very well and it's hard to tell people apart," he says, and puts on a black ski mask. In the background an Arabic language news station from Iran is blaring. The news channel Al Arabiya from Dubai, the station most Saudis watch, presents everything only from the Sunnis' point of view, says Sayed Ali.
Kalif in eastern Saudi Arabia has a bit less than half a million inhabitents. As in the small island state Bahrain 60 kilometers (37 miles) away, in and around Katif the Shiites are in the majority. Saudi Arabia owns roughly a fifth of the world's proven oil reserves, and almost all Saudi oil production takes place in the eastern province.
On every weekend out of the last five there have been demonstrations in Katif. After the clearing of Pearl Square in Manama with the help of Saudi troops, the number of those taking part has risen to several thousand.
The demonstrators march through Katif's historic city center carrying the Bahraini flag, often masking their identity. Sayed Ali, bank employee, relatively affluent and father of a son nine months old, is one of them.
Last weekend security forces fired live ammunition into the air, and fired rubber-coated bullets and tear gas at the demonstrators. Street battles between police and demonstrators lasted late into the night. According to the Saudi human rights organization Human Rights First Society, in the towns of Katif and Sahwa as well as in the oasis town al-Hassa, 80 kilometers (50 miles) farther inland, around a hundred demonstrators were arrested. "There are credible reports, particularly in al-Hassa, that people who were arrested were tortured," says human rights activist Ibrahim Mugaitib.
Authorities on torture allegations: no comment
No statement has been forthcoming from the authorities regarding the accusations of torture. King Abdullah did, however, give a short speech in which he promised an increase in the minimum wage, the building of 500,000 new homes, and other social benefits. In addition, the election commission announced that the municipal elections postponed two years ago would be held in April.
That will probably have little impact on the dynamic that these protests have developed — especially since the king used the same occasion to praise the security forces and promise more money for the religion police. In any case Sayed Ali found him unconvincing: "All the promises he made are for the religious Sunni establishment," he says as soon as Abdullah's speech is over. The Shiite intellectual Tawfiq al-Saif also calls the king's promises "cosmetic changes" only, and adds: "The only thing that could help now are concrete steps to introduce democratic reforms."
"When they saw I was a Shiite they rejected me"
Sayed Ali and his friends complain about discrimination on many levels. His friend Hussein Asseri [* name changed], free-lance computer specialist at the state oil concern Aramco, tells how he applied for a position at a government-owned enterprise. "I graduated from college with honors. I jumped through all the hoops, the application procedures, tests, and it was only when they saw I was a Shiite at the job interview that they rejected me."
People can tell you're a Shiite by looking at your face, say other participants in the discussion, chiming in to help him. Or from your name, or from the entry on your identity card saying you were born in Katif or the region around it. "A career in the police, or the military, or administration is something we can only dream of," Sayed Ali says. "After all this time, we want to be treated as equals, like any other Saudi citizen."
Bigoted notion: "Shiites have sex with minors"
In the conservative Wahhabi Islam of Saudi Arabia, Shiites are considered heretics. Even today it still says in every Saudi schoolbook that Shiites are not really Muslims. A bigoted notion that is widespread in Riyadh, the capital, is that Shiites allegedly have sex with minors and that a Sunni should never accept food from them because they'll supposedly spit in it or even poison it.
For all that, Sayed Ali and his friends believe that discrimination against Shiites ultimately and primarily can be traced back to suspicion that Shiites in Saudi Arabia are making common cause with Iran. Yet to this day, in support of that premise the government has been unable to provide any proof whatsoever. "Look, we're Saudi citizens," he says. "And that's what we'll always remain."